Requiem for a Dream (2000) (English Language)

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Review & Recommendation

102min

Cast: Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly…and more

Writers: Darren Aronofsky & Hubert Selby Jr.

The life of a humble young New Yorker, his friends and mother are thrown into chaos by drug-abuse as they continue down an increasingly dark path in this gritty drama from the director of The Wrestler and Black Swan.

Director Darren Aronofsky takes the eerie and unsettling components of his directorial debut π and plunges them into a new level of darkness in his second independent production Requiem for a Dream, make no mistake this film is dark and unforgiving and may not be for you if you have delicate sensibilities.

The main theme here is clearly drug addiction and abuse and Aronofsky is unapologetic in tackling the potential horrors of it, many of the scenes are graphic and some sexual in nature and there is an underlying sense of desperation throughout the film.

The director’s extensive and sometimes irritating use of frenetic montages is deliberate in depicting the notion of unbreakable habit, the mix of close-ups and “SnorriCam” shots is unsettling for the audience thereby forcing you close to the characters you are watching.

“Requiem’s” driving force is the haunting and melancholy score by Clint Mansell, an iconic piece of “electronica” music that has since been endlessly used in epic movie trailers and commercials.

This film is a perfect example of how a small budget and the creative freedom brought about by independence from studio control, can force a creative filmmaker to effectively use the raw component he has to great effect, in this case the components being the story and score and the powerful performances by the actors, in particular the Oscar-nominated turn from Ellen Burstyn as the lonely elderly mother.

Requiem for a Dream will no doubt be not to everyone’s taste, the movie plunges into darkness and never really emerges into the light, as the grip of addiction and desperation gets stronger the movie does perhaps become a bit too surreal and psychedelic, however what we can guarantee that you will never forget this film and it is as powerful a cautionary tale as you will ever see.

Dark, grim and brooding but absolutely unforgettable, Requiem for a Dream is Darren Aronofsky’s Opus to addiction and loneliness and the rock on which he has built his so far impressively unique directorial career.

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The Basketball Diaries (1995)

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